Today’s regularly scheduled Parma review has been delayed. Your Parma correspondent was privileged to be at Lang Park last night for State of Origin 3 and thus I am running a little behind.
The review will be up tomorrow morning at the normal time!
Mail list members will receive their weekly Parmamail tomorrow morning instead of this morning.
Regular readers of this blog will recall a few weeks back the Parma Consigliere and I hosted our friends the Canns for their first chicken parmigianas at the Norman Hotel. Last Saturday night, the Canns hosted us for an event that has been described by our chef for the evening, Geoffrey Cann (follow this bloke on twitter: @geoffreycann or read his blog geoffreycann.com), as “Pimp my Parma” night.
One of Geoffrey’s conditions for having us over for dinner was that I did a review of his chicken parmigiana in the style of my normal weekly parma reviews. Before I do that I will say this: I mean what I say in the title … this was one of the best meals I have ever had. Thank you Geoffrey and Marj Cann, our friends from Canada, for your hospitality and pimping my parma!
All of that being said, here is the review of Geoffrey Cann’s “Pimp my Parma”:
The Verdict: This is the first time I have had the privilege of watching a chicken parmigiana made before my eyes and to say I was impressed with the chef’s efforts in the kitchen would be an understatement. As impressed as I was with the efforts of the chef, I was even more impressed with the meal that he presented to us. Everything was excellent save for one minor criticism: the chicken piece was placed on top of the potatoes, an approach that I have waged metaphorical war with on this blog.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken on this chicken parmigiana was a half breast of chicken which the chef belted with a rolling pin and salted before crumbing. It was cooked perfectly. The meat was tender and the outer casing was perfectly crispy.
Tomato Sauce: I am a lover of tomato sauce in pretty much all of its variants and this tomato sauce was a show stopper. Flavorsome and rich whilst covering all of the chicken piece this tomato sauce is the one I have been searching for for the last 27 weeks.
Ham: Our chef, Geoffrey, used large pieces of double smoked ham which for me were the hero of this dish. The ham had to be a good piece both in taste and size to complement the amount of chicken and sauce on offer and it ticked both boxes!
Cheese: The cheese was, again, perfect. A mixture of two cheeses (I am embarrassed to admit that I can not recall which cheeses the chef used), the cheese on this dish was perfectly melted and tasted great!
Side Dishes: Chef Cann provided us with three side dishes and I will deal with each of them in turn.
Presentation: I mentioned in the verdict that the only criticism I can make of this dish is that the chicken piece was placed on top of the potatoes. This normally bothers me but once I realized just how well the potatoes were cooked it ceased to worry me and I enjoyed the dish immensely despite this minor issue.
The Final Word: I can’t give a bigger wrap for this chicken parma, and the work of my good friend Chef Cann, than to say that it formed part of one of the best meals I have ever experienced. Yes the chicken piece was on top of the potatoes but that actually did not detract from the dish because the potatoes were just perfectly cooked.
Postscript: It would be remiss of me to not mention the other courses put on by Chef Cann as part of the Pimp my Parma experience. Cream of Cauliflower soup for entrée was just wonderful. I did not tell Chef Cann that I usually avoid cauliflower with every fibre of my being however this soup was so good that I was nearly tempted to lick the bowl. Dessert was a peach crumble and it was perfectly cooked and tasted great.
The Verdict: I confess that I had limited expectations of the Parma at the Prince of Wales Hotel but I have to say that this was really a very good Parma. The chips and chicken portions of the meal were excellent. Unfortunately though this was another Parma let down by its salad!
Parma Pic:
Chicken: An excellent start to this dish, the chicken piece was nicely crumbed and had been perfectly cooked. It was moist and tasted great!
Tomato Sauce: Another aspect of the Prince’s chicken Parma that ticked all the boxes was the sauce. An excellent coverage of sauce was complemented by the taste which was spot on.
Ham: Again, I can not fault the ham in this chicken parmigiana. It was great! A large piece of ham which covered the chicken piece well and complemented every other part of the dish.
Cheese: Am I broken record? Because again I find myself repeating what I have noted above about this meal: the cheese on this dish was perfect. In a meal with some very good elements the cheese was the hero: it was abundant, well melted and was spot on it the taste department.
Side Dishes: It is such a shame that this dish had to have a fault because at one point I thought we might have had a new clubhouse leader in the Parma. However, whilst the chips hit the mark perfectly (they where perfectly cooked), the salad let this Parma down massively. Whilst well dressed, the Prince’s Parma salad had the look and taste of having not used entirely fresh produce. This was not a good accompaniment to an otherwise excellent offering!
Presentation: The size of the plate meant that all elements could not have been seperated on the plate. Not many chips were found under the chicken but those that were were left a little soft.
The Venue: The Prince of Wales Hotel is just off Sandgate Rd in Nundah. It is an old school suburban pub with a large bistro, a couple of bars and a pokies room. Accommodation is available. Tuesday night is trivia night whilst Wednesday night is “Parmi night” where the dish is costed at $12. Otherwise it will set you back $19 which is pretty good value!
The Final Word: For a very long moment whilst eating this Parma I was pondering whether a much awaited new leader had emerged from the pack in my quest to find Brisbane’s Best Parma. That moment past when I took my first bite of the salad. Still this was, overall, a very good dish and one well worth the visit to Nundah!
Postscript: The Parma Consigliere and I ended up joining in with the free Trivia night that was on offer in the bistro. It runs from between 7pm and 9pm and they get a pretty good roll up. Of course it wouldn’t be a trivia night without controversy. Two questions left us bemused with the answers:
An application for a stewards enquiry is presently being considered!
It is nearly July and we are now over half way through the search for Brisbane’s Best Parma. Here is the schedule of venues for July’s reviews:
If you have any tips for where I should test out chicken parmigianas please let me know either in the comments to this blog or via email brisbanesbestparma@gmail.com
It is difficult to believe, as time has gone so fast, but after this week’s chicken parmigiana I have now tasted and reviewed half of my target of 50 chicken parmigianas this year. At the half way point, this is how the Parma Ladder looks:
At the half way stage the Calamvale Hotel has maintained its spot at the top of the ladder whilst the Everton Park Hotel languishes at the bottom.
Will there be a chicken parmigiana that jumps out and takes the lead or has Brisbane’s Best Parma already been found? Watch this space!
The Verdict: The Monier chicken Parma was a very good Parma let down a little by its side dishes. Chips that both had been too long in the hot box and too long under the chicken breast are the reason this was not Brisbane’s Best Parma.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken piece for this Parma was one of the best I have had on my search for Brisbane’s Best Parma. It was perfectly crumbed, well cooked and tasted great.
Tomato Sauce: The hero of the meal was definitely the tomato sauce. It was a Napoli sauce full of flavour tha complemented all of the aspects of the chicken portion well. Quantity wise it was spot on for the size of the chicken piece.
Ham: The Monier Hotel Parma also got the ham 100% correct. It covered the chicken piece and complemented all of the other aspects of the chicken portion perfectly.
Cheese: The cheese presented another triumph for the Monier Hotel Parma as it was perfectly melted and from a quantity perspective was absolutely on the money.
Side Dishes: I had really high hopes for the chips with this dish but after I lifted the chicken portion off them those hopes evaporated. The sad part is that I am sure on most other dishes I would be raving about the chips but given that on this dish they had all been wedged under the chicken they came away a bit soggy in places. Those chips that weren’t soggy looked and tasted like they had been heated for a bit too long. The chips were also devoid of salt. The salad was actually pretty good. It was fresh and well dressed.
Presentation: Yet again the picture above speaks for itself. Despite there being ample space on the plate the meal was all wedged together which just does not work for me.
The Venue: The Monier Hotel is situated on Monier Road in Darra in the Brisbane western suburbs. It has been completely rebuilt after a fire a couple of years ago. The bistro is very large with indoor and outdoor facilities. The menu is just as large. My Parma was $22 which was spot on!
The Final Word: It is sad that the chips let this meal down because it definitely had the makings of a potential front runner in this quest. Over heated but soggy chips though killed the Monier’s claims for the coveted “Robert Parma” award. Still this Parma will sit in the top 5 at the half way point!
The Verdict: The Norman Hotel is advertised as “Brisbane’s Worst Vegetarian Restaurant”. After this chicken parmagiana they may wish to add poultry to that tag line.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken piece on the Norman Parma was well crumbed and on the large side. I am sure it had the potential to be quite good but I found mine to be over cooked and quite dry.
Tomato Sauce: Are we currently going through a shortage of tomato sauce in Brisbane or just rationing and I missed the memo? The tomato sauce on this Parma was tasty enough but there just was not enough of it!
Ham: The triumph of this meal was the ham. Where the sauce failed to provide coverage of the chicken piece the ham did in spades. Add to the quantum of ham the fact that it tasted great and it was the winner of the night!
Cheese: See comments for tomato sauce above and repeat them here. What cheese there was well melted and complimented the ham well but I repeat the rhetorical question: are we an rations at the moment?
Side dishes: The Norman Hotel’s Parma presented a new twist to the side dishes by including a baked potato instead of chips. It was not a good substitution. My potato, and those of my guests for the night, was cold when my plate hit the table. The salad, conversely, was excellent: it was fresh, plentiful and well dressed. I will ignore here the inclusion of a comically large half of a tomato because something so ridiculous, which I did not eat, ought not detract from a salad I really enjoyed.
Presentation: With no chips on the plate there was ample room to place everything on it without the need to rest food on other food. This was a refreshing change.
The Venue: I have noted the tag line above that the Norman uses in its marketing and it goes without saying that it’s steaks are of the highest quality. The Parma Consigliere’s steak was absolutely spot on. Keeping with the theme this month of trialling Parma’s at Brisbane’s hotel icons, the Norman, situated on Ipswich Rd in the ‘Gabba, is another establishment that has a long and rich history. Like others in the area it has been extensively refitted in recent years. $25.90 seemed a bit steep for my chicken Parma.
The Final Word: The Parma Consigliere and I were delighted to host our friends from Canada, the Canns, at this week’s Parma test and introduce them to an Australian pub food staple. What a shame this Parma was just not very good! Dry chicken, limited sauce and cheese and a cold potato all made this a disappointing eating experience!
The Verdict: This week’s Parma comes from another of Brisbane’s iconic hotels, the Regatta. In a first, after 22 chicken parmigianas, the Regatta Parma added a new twist to how a Parma might be presented: the tomato sauce was not spread on the chicken but rather the ham was between the chicken and the sauce. Unfortunately this twist did not really work. Added to this, a dry piece of chicken and too little cheese left me feeling a little bit disappointed.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken piece in the Regatta Chicken Parma was a smallish piece that unfortunately appeared to be a bit overcooked. It was certainly dry. On the plus side the chicken piece was well crumbed.
Ham: The absolute standout of this Parma was the ham. It was a massive slice of ham which had to be folded in half to fit on the chicken piece. It tasted great to go with its ample quantity.
Tomato Sauce: The tomato sauce, as the photo above attests, was spread over the ham rather than between the chicken and the ham as has been the case for the last 22 parmas reviewed. Whilst the sauce was quite tasty the placement of it on the ham meant that the chicken’s dryness was exacerbated.
Cheese: The placement of the sauce on this dish meant that the cheese was directly on top of it. This meant that every time I cut into the chicken portion of the meal the cheese slid off the ham / chicken. Whilst well melted there was not enough of it so that, coupled with it sliding off the ham / chicken, meant that there was none left by the time I was half way through this part of the meal.
Side Dishes: The chips and salad in the Regatta Parma were both very good. The chips were well cooked and well salted with chicken salt. The salad, whilst simplistic, was extremely fresh and tasted great!
Presentation: Not only was the chicken portion of this dish on top of the dish is was also on top of the part of the salad. Given the side of the plate this meant it was impossible to just eat the chicken portion on its own.
The Venue: The Regatta Hotel has been a watering hole in Brisbane for some 140 years. After a massive refurbishment after the 2011, the Hotel possesses a number of bars as well as the Boatshed restaurant and a number function rooms. The floors are being resurfaced again at the moment so the menu in the bars is limited to a café style menu. The chicken parmigiana was $17.50.
The Final Word: It is pretty difficult to much up the order of the ingredients for the chicken portion of the chicken parma however the Regatta Hotel Parma did just that. The ordering of the elements detracted from what was some of the best ham I have had during the last 23 weeks. Unfortunately the chicken piece was also overcooked and dry and the cheese was a little bit lacking. As a result this was not Brisbane’s Best Parma.
The Verdict: I have to confess at the outset that I have never been much of a fan of the Normanby Hotel. It is has just not been a venue that I have enjoyed in the past. I was hoping that the Chicken Parmigiana, which was described in the menu as “the real deal” would change all of that. Unfortunately, this was not a Parma that left me dancing on the tables in celebration!
Parma Pic:
Normanby Hotel Parma
Chicken: The chicken portion on this Parma was one of the highlights of the dish. It was well crumbed and perfectly cooked. My only criticism of the chicken is that some of the outer crumb shell had been burnt during the process of melting the cheese.
Tomato Sauce: The sauce on this week’s Parma was a Napoli sauce and was definitely a very nice tasting sauce. The problem was though, as I would also find in another key element of the meal, that there was just not enough of it! A very thin covering of sauce which, in a places, had not covered the chicken piece completely was just not enough.
Ham: The ham presented exactly the same issue as the tomato sauce. It was very tasty but there was just not enough of it! In concert with the lack of tomato sauce this meant that some of the forkfuls of chicken I ate were only complemented with melted cheese alone.
Cheese: I can not fault the cheese on this dish and, frankly, I am well placed to judge it given that it overwhelmed the Ham and Tomato Sauce in volume. It was well melted and tasted great!
Side Dishes: As disappointing as the lack of Ham and Tomato Sauce was the quality of the chips and salad on this Chicken Parma went some way to rest that disappointment away. The chips were wonderfully well cooked and perfectly salted. I could not fault them. The salad was fresh, well dressed and just enough to compliment the meal well.
Presentation: I will say it again … Why have a big enough plate to serve all of the elements of this dish easily and then plonk part of the chicken on top of the chips? It just makes no sense to me.
The Venue: The Normanby Hotel is a Brisbane icon. Built in 1889 and now Heritage Listed it possesses 5 bars along with a spacious dining area. The carpark is regularly used as a venue for watching sport on the big screen. My chicken parmagiana cost $25.50.
The Final Word: This was a chicken parmigiana that presented with much promise and had many great elements but was let down by the scarcity of two of those elements. I definitely was not left feeling in the mood emulate Allan Langer’s dance on the bar in celebration of this Parma, rather I was left ruing what might have been but for the lack of ham and sauce.
Here is this month’s schedule for testing some of Brisbane’s Best Chicken Parmigianas:
June Calendar
As always, if you have suggestions for future venues please reach out to me via email on this site!
Brisbane's Best Parma 